The e-procurement projects of two more departments in the state government -- Panchayat Raj and APSRTC -- have been formally launched with the respective departments releasing the relevant tenders online.

With this, e-procurement is being implemented in eight departments with the other departments being - irrigation, roads & buildings, APTS, panchayati raj engineering department, APHMHIDC, Public Health Engineering and Social Welfare.

The government in an earlier order stated that all the existing rules applicable to the processing of conventional tenders were applicable to the bids to be secured through e-procurement.

“There is going to be tremendous savings for APSRTC, as the department procurers spare parts and materials almost to the tune of Rs 200 crore a year. We plan to put tenders worth Rs 50 crores before the end of this fiscal and hope to cash in on the nation wide bidding to get more quality response from suppliers for our requirements” notes R P Singh, the former MD of APSRTC. The corporation's project went live early last week.

“It is indeed a note worthy project that the department has undertaken. With the successful implementation of the project we hope to drive transparency and process efficiency in the works that we offer in this space besides saving on costs, V Prabhu, Engineer-in-Chief, Panchayathi Raj, said on the development.